1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data communication device for file transmission or file reception and a computer readable medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there are proposed methods for transmitting image data that are obtained by scanning a document or in other ways to a device at the other end (at the receiving end) and methods for managing the data. According to a method described in Japanese unexamined patent publication No. 10-32653, for example, a facsimile machine is used to send image data to a device at the receiving end. The device stores the received image data in the form of a file in a memory portion for management.
According to a method described in Japanese unexamined patent publication No. 2002-359645, a device at the sending end transmits facsimile data to a device at the receiving end in the form of an e-mail attachment. On this occasion, the device at the sending end adds a keyword to a header of an e-mail message. The device at the receiving end manages the attachment along with the e-mail message.
In this way, a device at the receiving end electronically memorizes received data as a file instead of outputting the received data to paper, allowing for easy management of the received data.
Data attached to an e-mail message (an attachment) are usually used after being transferred to a directory other than a directory of an in-box in e-mail software (a directory or a recording medium for a user's work, for example) or after being copied.
As the number of files memorized by a device at the receiving end increases, it becomes difficult for a user to find a desired file. Then, for example, the method mentioned above is conceivable in which a received file is associated with a keyword added to an e-mail message for management (Japanese unexamined patent publication No. 2002-359645). Thereby, a desired file can be searched with reference to the keyword.
According to the method, however, it is required to use e-mail software in order to search a file in reference to a keyword. This is because the keyword is added to a header of an e-mail message. When a user is interested in an attribute including a transmission source of a file, it is also required to use e-mail software for similar reasons.
Accordingly, when a file is transferred to a directory different from a directory of an in-box in e-mail software or others, association between the file and the e-mail message is lost. Thus, it becomes impossible to search the file with reference to a keyword and to know an attribute such as a transmission source of the file, making file management difficult.